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secre's review
4.0
Having really enjoyed the first in the series, I immediately got stuck into the second and found Sir Robert Carey to be just as irresistible as the first installment. It was easier to get into the swing of this novel as I had already done the hard work of getting to grips with the background of a period I had no knowledge of previously.
The cast of characters seemed far smaller in this novel and the novel was far more directly focused on solving a case rather than the in-depth political and local ramifications of Sir Carey's position, although these are addressed, just more vaguely and loosely. I think I somewhat preferred the multi-string approach of the first novel, but this was still a very fine read, just a little more directly linear in its approach.
The character building was very well done, and allows for a further exploration of Dodd, Carey and Barnaby as well as his sister and her husband Lord Scropes and the distinctly more corrupt Richard Lowther. It builds on these characters extremely well and allowed for several moments where the characters truly came to life. I found myself thinking of them as I was dropping off on an evening.
The detective case itself is complex and well mapped; I hadn't figured out what was going on until it was revealed to me. As mentioned above, this novel is more directly focussed on a single case, whereas the first in the series had multiple threads that you followed throughout. I found the first approach far more engrossing, but that is only a minor niggle as I still very much enjoyed this novel.
It also raises some interesting issues of the times; how the law enforcers are expected to be corrupt and gather blackrent - blackmail - as well as the differences in law for a man and a woman. If a man murders a man, it is a hanging offence. If a woman murders her husband, it is petty treason and a burning offence. These issues are neatly interwoven into a complex and complicated mystery which ends up with multiple confessions and three people in jail for the same offence... figuring out who is actually to blame and who profits from the murder is a neat trick that again, allows for further development of Carey, Lowther and Barnaby.
My main complaint with the writing style is that at moments it seemed as though chunks of dialogue had simply been missed out and this was very offputting at times. I had to read sections multiple times to figure out what was going on because the writing just seemed to cut out and re-join at a later point in the conversation. I came to the conclusion that this is a deliberate writing device, but it did make sections tricky to understand and is the reason I have dropped a star.
Regardless of that, I would more than recommend this novel.
The cast of characters seemed far smaller in this novel and the novel was far more directly focused on solving a case rather than the in-depth political and local ramifications of Sir Carey's position, although these are addressed, just more vaguely and loosely. I think I somewhat preferred the multi-string approach of the first novel, but this was still a very fine read, just a little more directly linear in its approach.
The character building was very well done, and allows for a further exploration of Dodd, Carey and Barnaby as well as his sister and her husband Lord Scropes and the distinctly more corrupt Richard Lowther. It builds on these characters extremely well and allowed for several moments where the characters truly came to life. I found myself thinking of them as I was dropping off on an evening.
The detective case itself is complex and well mapped; I hadn't figured out what was going on until it was revealed to me. As mentioned above, this novel is more directly focussed on a single case, whereas the first in the series had multiple threads that you followed throughout. I found the first approach far more engrossing, but that is only a minor niggle as I still very much enjoyed this novel.
It also raises some interesting issues of the times; how the law enforcers are expected to be corrupt and gather blackrent - blackmail - as well as the differences in law for a man and a woman. If a man murders a man, it is a hanging offence. If a woman murders her husband, it is petty treason and a burning offence. These issues are neatly interwoven into a complex and complicated mystery which ends up with multiple confessions and three people in jail for the same offence... figuring out who is actually to blame and who profits from the murder is a neat trick that again, allows for further development of Carey, Lowther and Barnaby.
My main complaint with the writing style is that at moments it seemed as though chunks of dialogue had simply been missed out and this was very offputting at times. I had to read sections multiple times to figure out what was going on because the writing just seemed to cut out and re-join at a later point in the conversation. I came to the conclusion that this is a deliberate writing device, but it did make sections tricky to understand and is the reason I have dropped a star.
Regardless of that, I would more than recommend this novel.
meiklejohn's review against another edition
informative
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
archytas's review
4.0
I'm pretty sure I read this book when it came out in the 1990s, but apart from a comfortably familiar sense of expectation, I was able to read the whole thing again Carwithout remembering any key plot points.
Undoubtedly, this series strength is its strong sense of time and place - you can almost smell the horse dung as the world of the borderlands comes to life. The choice of Carey as main protagonist both provides an audience POV and a bit of Elizabethan spice, bringing in the world of the court,nd sets up the clash of cultures which provides the not-inconsiderable humour.
The plot is reasonably sensical, which is all I ask of this genre, because the key pleasure is in the escapism of ochs and pele-towers, a world of horse coveting and kin.
Undoubtedly, this series strength is its strong sense of time and place - you can almost smell the horse dung as the world of the borderlands comes to life. The choice of Carey as main protagonist both provides an audience POV and a bit of Elizabethan spice, bringing in the world of the court,nd sets up the clash of cultures which provides the not-inconsiderable humour.
The plot is reasonably sensical, which is all I ask of this genre, because the key pleasure is in the escapism of ochs and pele-towers, a world of horse coveting and kin.
avid_d's review
3.0
Lightweight, fun and I felt it conveyed a good sense of time and place (though Sir Robert Storey is a bit too good to be true!).
rhodered's review
4.0
More of a mystery plot than the last one, and than is typically my favorite in books. (I read historic mysteries for the people and history, don't give a damn about solving a plot's puzzle.) That said, this is absolutely lovely.
It does a far better job than the first book did in fleshing out the various secondary characters around Carey (the adventure and Carey himself dominated the first.) So now I have enough interest and love for them to carry me through many more volumes.
Plus, great scenes of card playing, sibling annoyances, women being fed up with men's deductive powers, men adoring their wives, other men loathing their wives, masters and servants being fed up with each other, and Carey's obnoxious, boisterous, pre-dawn good humor in action.
Lastly, we see Carey wake up from his why-can't-we-just-fool-around naïveté regarding his married beloved when he abruptly realizes that her reservations are a matter of life and death. Which, frankly, I think few men then realized, just as few (white, straight cis) men nowadays remotely understand how dangerous the world is for women still compared to them.
It does a far better job than the first book did in fleshing out the various secondary characters around Carey (the adventure and Carey himself dominated the first.) So now I have enough interest and love for them to carry me through many more volumes.
Plus, great scenes of card playing, sibling annoyances, women being fed up with men's deductive powers, men adoring their wives, other men loathing their wives, masters and servants being fed up with each other, and Carey's obnoxious, boisterous, pre-dawn good humor in action.
Lastly, we see Carey wake up from his why-can't-we-just-fool-around naïveté regarding his married beloved when he abruptly realizes that her reservations are a matter of life and death. Which, frankly, I think few men then realized, just as few (white, straight cis) men nowadays remotely understand how dangerous the world is for women still compared to them.
nigellicus's review
5.0
Thoroughly enjoyable, witty and exciting historical murder mystery set on the Scottish border in the 17th century.
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